Wally Russell

Wally Russell
Personal information
Full name	Walter Ivan Russell
Date of birth	(1923-03-25)25 March 1923
Place of birth	Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Date of death	4 March 1981(1981-03-04) (aged 57)
Place of death	Clifton Springs, Victoria
Original team(s)	Bacchus Marsh
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s)	Forward
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1942–43, 1945–48	Richmond	33 (11)
1948–49	Geelong	25 (19)
Total		58 (30)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1949.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Wally Russell (25 March 1923 – 4 March 1981) was recruited from Bacchus Marsh where he played in the club's 1940 Bacchus Marsh & Melton Football Association premiership[1] and also won the Association's best and fairest award, the Cyril C Jones Medal.[2]

Russell was a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[3] Russell was a member of 1946 Richmond Reserves premiership team.[4]

Upon leaving Geelong, Russell was the St. Kilda Reserves Captain-Coach in 1950, playing 18 games, then went to BlackRock as Captain-Coach in 1951–52, then onto Carrum as Captain-Coach from 1953 to 1962, winning a premiership in 1959, winning the club Best & Fairest in 1958 and he also won a league Best & Fairest award too.

Russell was captain-coach of Beechworth Seniors in the Ovens & King Football League in 1965[5] and retired as a player, aged 44 in 1967, as captain-coach of Beechworth Reserves.

Father of former Geelong footballer, Ivan Russell.

He served in the R.A.A.F, for five years during World War 2.[6] During his service, he was stationed in Canada.

Notes

1. "1940 - Bacchus Marsh Premiers". The Bacchus Marsh Express (Vic). 14 September 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
2. "1940 - Saturday's Highlights". The Bacchus Marsh Express (Vic). 14 September 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
3. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p. 775. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
4. "1946 - RICHMOND'S POINT WIN FOR PENNANT". The Herald. 28 September 1946. p. 26. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
5. Neil Barter. All links in the chain. The centenary history of the Ovens and King Football League. Ovens & King FNL. p. 157.
6. "Walter Russell - War Profile". Department of Veteran Affairs. Retrieved 9 August 2021.

External links

• Wally Russell's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Wally Russell at AustralianFootball.com
• Wally Russell profile @ Tigerland Archive